The Choices We Make
by Azabeth Knight
Summary: A year ago Emma made the choice to join Mutant X, but recently things have been playing on her mind. When events heat up after an attack, what happens when hearts start dictating choices over heads? What will she and Brennan decide?
1. A year on

**THE CHOICES WE MAKE**

Summary: A year ago Emma made the choice to join Mutant X, but recently things have been playing on her mind. When events heat up after an attack, what happens when hearts start dictating choices over heads? Both she and the rest of Mutant X may have some tough decisions to make.

Rating: I am giving this story a PG-13 rating to be on the safe side for now, but I may increase that depending on where my imagination takes me.

Disclaimer: The Mutant X characters and original theme do not belong to me (unfortunately!) I own this idea but no profit has been made from this story.

Authors note: This is basically a pre-story warning. I love all of the characters of Mutant X but although I think Brennan and Shalimar are great together in the show, I am afraid I have been a Brennan and Emma shipper since I saw the connection in the first two episodes, before they joined the team. So sorry guys, please don't flame me but this is my story and I control the characters. I therefore advise anyone with very strong aversions to a Brennan/Emma pairing to read no further... you have been warned! Otherwise, I really appreciate anyone taking the time to review my work, as this is my first story, thanks for your support. : )

"_To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing."_

Emma DeLauro sat in the crowded bar, deep in thought. The music was loud so the voices around her were raised even louder to compensate. People moved around, getting drinks from the bar, moving to the dance floor or simply trying to find a quiet spot to hold a conversation (an impossible task.) Emma ignored them all as she twisted the ring on her finger and contemplated how much this simple silver band had come to mean to her. But that was the point, she thought, the ring might have looked simple but it was anything but. The highly complicated communications device somehow reflected the complicated nature of her feelings tonight. She couldn't help it, something had been playing on her mind recently, or perhaps that should be _someone_.

She had been with Mutant X for nearly a year now she realized. It would be a full year next week since she had received the honour of membership to this most elite team, at the ceremony where Shalimar had presented her ring to her. However, it wasn't that event which was playing on Emma's mind now, today was quite a different anniversary for her. A year ago today she had met Brennan.

Emma took a sip of her drink and sighed. Why did she always get a strange feel ing in her stomach when she thought about him? She couldn't explain why she regarded her relationship with him with so much more complication than the others. She was close to all the team; Jesse Kilmartin was sweet and looked after her like a brother; Adam had become a sort of father figure for them all; Shalimar Fox she perhaps regarded as her best friend. Maybe simply because they was the only two females on the team, but Emma and Shalimar had quickly formed a close relationship, after all, Shalimar pointed out soon after Emma had joined the team, there are some things that you can only really share with other girls. But Brennan Mulwray was a different matter. They were friends, sure, close friends for that matter, but Emma had never felt as relaxed around him as she was with Jesse. She seemed to argue more with Brennan as well, she thought, and not so much in the playful way she did with the others.

She looked over her shoulder. Shalimar, easy to spot a mile off, was dancing exuberantly with a tall blond man whose grin Emma could see from the bar. 'He must think this is his lucky night,' Emma thought, amused, as she watched the feral rub seductively against her partner- the poor man didn't stand a chance.

A little further over she spotted object of her musings. Brennan, dancing with some blonde girl in a way that definitely caused Emma a pang. Still she couldn't help but stare at him, that tall gorgeous body, muscles clearly accented by the tight leather pants and thin black shirt he was wearing. As she watched his hands moved up the body of the blonde girl and he bent his head towards her. Emma's stomach gave a turn as they started making out and she quickly turned away for the scene.

Her eyes fell then upon Jesse, whom, it was apparent, was definitely looking less comfortable than Shalimar and Brennan. A pair of scantly dressed women were accosting him, fluttering their lashes, thick with mascara, and clearly trying to proposition him by pressing their enhanced cleavage towards his chest. As Emma watched, she saw one of the women lean forward brazenly to whisper something in his ear. If she had hoped to secure him with whatever she said, she had clearly been mistaken- Jesse visibly jumped away from the women and hurried back to the bar over to where Emma was sitting.

She grinned as he approached her, "What, wasn't she your type Jesse?"

Jesse frowned. "The nerve of some people!" he ranted "I was actually frightened of her! She said she was going to tear of my clothes right then and there and ..." He stopped as laugh emitted from Emma.

"Sorry Jess."

"Well I'm glad you're having fun at my expense." he retorted, pretending to be hurt. Emma smiled and patted the stool next to her. Jesse sat down beside her and ordered them both another drink.

"That won't help you know" Emma said as she watched him gulp the bottle of beer that the barman had just served.

"Yeah, well what will?" Jesse asked sulkily. Emma patted his knee affectionately. Jesse was such a sweet guy, if only women would see it. She'd sometimes wished she were attracted to him herself, early on when they'd met, but he was like a brother to her now and that suited her just fine.

"Ah, don't worry Jesse, I'm sure there are plenty of _nice_ pretty girls here for you, you're a really sweet guy." She wished she could use her mind to push a girl in Jesse's direction, but Adam had expressly forbidden them all from using their powers tonight. He had reason to suspect the GSA had increased their activity lately and they all had to be on their guard.

Jesse stared at her. "Thanks Em, that's really sweet of you, but I can't imagine a prettier girl I'd rather dance with right now than you" He smiled at her, downing the remainder of his beer and offering her his hand.

Emma considered it for a moment, 'Why not if it takes my mind off a certain tall, dark haired man I'd not be thinking about right now' she thought.

"Sure" she grinned and allowed Jesse to lead her out onto the dance floor amidst the crown of other dancing people.

They had been dancing together for a few songs and Emma's mood was definitely picking up. She laughed as he spun her around and she tripped over her own feet, nearly crashing into the couple next to them before Jesse caught her and pulled her back upright. Shalimar joined them a few moments later.

"Where's that guy you were with a moment ago" Emma shouted over the din of the music.

"I got bored" Shalimar shouted back "He wanted to go back to his place but I just want to dance tonight."

"And so another poor heart is broken" Jesse teased. The three of them continued dancing for while. At one point Emma realised that she and Shalimar had created a small audience around them as they moved together. Jesse laughed as he saw guys staring, slack-jawed, watching his two friends dance, though he doubted Shalimar was oblivious to the admirers. In fact, he thought, watching the corners of her lips curl as she grabbed Emma hands they swayed sensually, back to back, she was rising to the attention.

"Okay ladies, break it up" An amused voice broke in "You're going to give those poor guys heart failure"

"Come on Brennan," Shalimar grinned, "Emma just needs to loosen up. We can't help it if the males of our species have one track minds!" She grabbed Brennan's arms and pushed herself against him.

"That's one track we'll have to discus another time" Brennan grinned back "but I'm afraid right now we've got something else to deal with..."

Emma was glad to be distracted from watching Shalimar and Brennan in their on going and blatantly obvious flirtation.

" What's up?"

"Adam just called my comlink, he wants us back at Sanctuary within the hour."

"Did he say why?" Jesse asked looking concerned.

"Apparently he's got a lead on a new mutant the GSA have their eye on and he wants us to check out the specs tonight. We'll probably have to follow it up tomorrow."

"Okay, so we'll leave in 20 minutes?" Shalimar, who was clearly enjoying herself didn't really want the evening to end just yet.

"Okay, we'll meet out front at quarter past midnight" Jesse agreed, "That'll give Shalimar another half hour to break a few more hearts" She glared at him but didn't disagree and swept off to make the most of her precious remaining time.

Brennan grinned at Emma. "She'll be trying to corrupt you next, I'm surprised she hasn't already."

"Well she did suggest I make a tear up the side of my skirt tonight, according to Shalimar, showing leg turns men to mush."

"You should have taken her advice" Brennan's eyes glanced at over Emma's legs making her blush. "Shalimar certainly is an expert on what men want. That top she's wearing tonight... no man could refuse..." He trailed off and Emma groaned inwardly.

"Anyway, see you later Em," he said, nudging her affectionately in the arm as he made his way through the crowd, no doubt, Emma thought, going back to find the blonde girl he had been dancing with earlier.

She excused herself to Jesse and made her way to the ladies bathroom, which was situated at the back of the club. Pushing through the door she placed her hands on the sink and sighed.

Why had she been having these strange feelings lately. It didn't help that she always felt a multitude of mixed sensations in clubs. So many hormones and emotions raging, her powers gave her a buzz from the subconscious readings she would get from the people around her, they increased her feelings of yearning at the best of times. Right now, she was feeling extremely flushed, so she bent to splash her face with water. She looked up at her reflection staring back at her. She had gotten a reading off Brennan when he was looking at her, a brief feeling of lust, (which she imagined had come less from her and more from the fact that he was clearly thinking about Shalimar,) and now she couldn't get the sensation out of her head. She could feel her heart pounding as the adrenalin coursed through her body. Really, sometimes this telempathy could be a real pain. She didn't dare go back out right away. The way she was feeling she was liable to kiss the first guy she came across just to get rid of these stupid impulses running through her.

After a while she realized it must be nearly time for her to meet the others. She glanced at her watch, damn! It was already 14 minutes after midnight, and she was going to have to battle her way through the crowds to get outside. Feeling guilty that the others would probably already be waiting for her, she quickly left the ladies bathroom and began the arduous task, her small stature making it more difficult to get people to acknowledge her and let her past.

Suddenly she felt a hand grab her.

Continued in chapter 2... Let me know what you think...


	2. There again

**THE CHOICES WE MAKE**

_Continued..._

"Hey baby, looking hot, wanna come back to my place to... _cool off_?" Emma looked up to see a large bulky man leering at her intensely.

"No thanks!" she said quickly, "I'm meeting my friends and I'm already late." She tried to pull her arm out of his grasp but his grip merely tightened.

"Now where are you running off to sweetheart, we were only just starting to have fun." By the smell of his breath Emma could clearly tell he was drunk. The lust radiating from him was making her feel slightly sick. She tried to pull away again but to no avail. For a moment she considered using her powers and giving him a mind blast. But she was surrounded by people...if someone saw...

"Hey baby, stop teasing me," the man was now holding her painfully with both hands, trying to pull her against him while leaning in to kiss her face. Emma struggled again, trying to back away from him. Just then, she felt another strong arm wrap around her waist from behind. She panicked for a second until she heard the owner of the arm speak.

"Back off mate!" Brennan's firm voice gave her a sense of relief but the man holing her had still not let go.

"Fuck off and find your own piece man," he spat angrily, tugging on Emma, seemingly trying to drag her from Brennan, "this ones mine!" The violent jerk he gave her caused Emma a yelp of pain.

"Right that's enough!" With on swift movement Brennan had broken the hold on Emma, swept her behind him and hit big man squarely in the chest knocking the wind out of him. He coughed angrily trying to get his breath back, but was clearly in no state for a fight and started backing away.

"Whatever man, she's all yours."

"Thanks" Emma muttered, trying to calm herself as Brennan turned away from her assailant to look at her.

"No problem, are you all right?" He was looking at her intently, obviously trying to discern if she was in any way hurt. If that idiot had injured her, Brennan was going to turn back round and make sure he wasn't in any position to touch anybody again for a long time.

"It's okay," Emma assured him trying to calm him down, "really Brennan, I'm fine." She smiled at him gratefully. He still felt angry that some jerk had dared lay a hand on one of his friends, but he knew Emma hated to encourage violent acts of revenge and didn't want to cause her any more discomfort tonight. He put a hand on her back and started leading her toward the exit.

"I was just on my way out when I saw you, I'd have gotten over quicker but this place is just packed tonight."

They reached the doors and he opened them, steering her through and outside.

"Hey guys!" Shalimar and Jesse pulled up beside them in the black car, Jesse driving.

"What kept you guys?" Shalimar asked as Brennan and Emma jumped in the back and Jesse reversed back and headed towards the sanctuary.

"Brennan was just playing the knight in shining armour," Emma grinned, nudging Brennan playfully.

"Really," Jesses eyebrows went up, he glanced in his mirror at Brennan, "never really saw you as shining, a knight in slightly rusting armour perhaps."

"So this is the thanks I get for rescuing the damsel in distress!" said Brennan in mock indignation giving her a friendly push back.

"I'm only joking" Emma felt a slight rush as he touched her. Trying to control her feelings she continued lightly, "Lucky you appeared though actually, I was almost going to use my powers on him."

"Luck had nothing to do with it, I heard you calling."

Emma looked surprised. "I didn't realize I had."

"Well I felt you, a telempathic de-ja-vous... just like old times eh." He had remembered. A year ago today he had first recived her distress call fom across a bar. He wasn't sure why at the time, but he had immediately decided that he had to help her. He had made the right choice, he realised. It was the start of his invovemant with Mutant X, he wouldn't be with them now if he hadn't made that choice. But then again, he thought sadly, neither would she. He glanced at her, pressed next to him, the psionic looked so young with those huge, glassy blue eyes. If he hadn't gone after her that day, she would probably be a captive of the GSA now, another lab rat for Genomex, or worse.

"Are you okay Em" Shalimar asked her friend.

"Fine" Emma assured her. She was glad though, when they finally reached the Sanctuary. Her head was starting to hurt and the slightly sick feeling from read she'd gotten off the man in the club still hung in her stomach. She felt dirty; all she wanted was to have a hot shower and then crawl into bed.

"You're back" Adam greeted his team, smiling to see they had all made it home tonight without getting into any brawls.

"So what's up Adam" Shalimar asked anxious to know what had interrupted her night out

"I have information on that new mutant, Devon Rykes, that Brennan and Jesse were trying to a lead on last week.

" Right" Jesse acknowledged, "An elemental, he apparently has the power to throw fire." A brief look of anxiety passed across Shalimar's face and her back stiffened a little at this news. As a feral, Adam had always insisted her fear of fire was only natural and the only way to overcome it was to face it, however the thought of facing a mutant with pyro abilities still made her uncomfortable.

"News from the underground has just come in" Adam continued, "There has been a report of an attack on someone by four people in black suits, but he got away when the warehouse he was staying in went up in flames and the assailants were forced to withdraw."

"The GSA won't give up that easily" put in Brennan, frowning.

"Brennan's right" Adam pressed some keys on the keypad and various maps and a blueprint of a building was projected for them all to see. "The GSA have been seen searching this area since, we think Devon must be in this general vicinity and it doesn't look like the agents have picked him up yet."

The four mutants stared at information in the screen and the portrait of Devon Rykes that was rotating in the left hand corner.

"I think I know that area," Brennan offered referring to the location of the warehouse remains.

"Good," said Adam, "Then you and Jesse will check it out in the morning to see if there is any useful clues and information remaining there, meanwhile Shalimar and Emma will go and check the area we think he's moved to, and see how close the GSA are getting."

The girls nodded but the other two looked less happy at these arrangements.

"Whoa, Adam, that place is going to be hot with agents, I really don't think we should be sending Shal and Emma on their own."

"Sorry Brennan, but Emma and Shalimar are more likely to be able to pick up on the mutant if he's still in that area." Adam saw the concerned expression still on the faces of Brennan and Jesse so added, " look, it won't take the two of you long to sweep the warehouse, then you can go and back them up, okay?"

That settled they dispersed, all heading for their bedrooms. Shalimar followed Emma to her room.

"Em," she started as they reached Emma's door, "Are you really okay?"

"I'm fine Shal, honestly, why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, you seemed a bit down lately, sort of melancholy, like there's been something on your mind."

"It's nothing, really. I guess I've just sort of been thinking- about the past year, everything that's happened, the choices I've made, you know."

"Well, if you want to talk about it I'm here." Shalimar protective instincts for her friend meant she couldn't help but notice the change in Emma's moods recently.

"Maybe another time Shal, right now, I really think I just need some sleep." She smiled at her friend, trying to reassure her that she was okay.

"Okay, maybe you just need a shopping trip" Shalimar grinned, "After we sort out things with this new mutant, you and I are hitting the malls!"

"Sounds great." the young brunette grinned back as she closed the door to her, trust Shalimar to think of retail therapy. Emma threw herself onto her bed and closed her eyes.

_Continued in Chapter 3... Reviews are always appreciated : )_


	3. Sleepless

**THE CHOICES WE MAKE**

_Continued..._

Emma awoke a few hours later in a cold sweat. Her dreams had been particularly unpleasant, mainly revolving around the man who had grabbed her in the club, except in these scenarios; Brennan hadn't appeared to play the hero. She felt like she needed another shower. Rolling over and glancing at the clock beside her bed, Emma realized it was barely 4 o'clock in the morning. Even so, she didn't particularly feel like trying to go back to sleep, lest the images of that creep reappear. Climbing out of bed, she didn't bother to put her robe on; no one would be about at this hour.

The kitchen area was deserted, so Emma poured herself a glass of juice- anything sweet to get rid of the horrible taste she had in her mouth.

Finding her way in the dark over to where the couch was, Emma was about to sit down when there was grunt from under her. She jumped up, giving a squeal of fright, this action causing the shape on the couch to give a yell and jump up also, knocking her to the floor.

"Hey!"

Emma recognized the voice. "Brennan?"

"Emma?"

"Yes!"

"What the hell are you doing"?

"What am I doing? What on earth were you doing sleeping on the couch?"

"I couldn't sleep," Brennan answered, still sounding slightly groggy, " I came in here, guess I must have drifted off." Realizing Emma was still on the floor her offered her his hand and helped her up. "Sorry I gave you a fright," he muttered, yawning and plonking himself back down on the couch. He moved over slightly to allow her to join him, but looking up realized that she hadn't moved. Noticing her staring at him with an odd, slightly shocked expression on her face, he looked down at himself. Like Emma, he hadn't expected anyone else to be about when he had gotten up to stretch his legs at 2 in the morning, consequently, he had neglected to realize that he was sitting there at that moment wearing only his boxer shorts. Emma looked away, embarrassed.

Brennan shrugged. "No need to blush, it's nothing you haven't seen before." He was right, Emma thought, they had all seen each other in nothing but their lycra black underwear when they were in the lab. Emma had always felt slightly self-conscious when she was being scanned, but it didn't seem to bother the others. Shalimar and Brennan particularly, seemed quite at home showing off their tall, toned bodies.

Feeling slightly silly at having been caught staring, Emma quickly moved to sit down next to him on the sofa. Brennan seemed to be considering her now, a slight smile on his face.

"What is it?" Emma was starting to feel self-conscious herself, dressed only in her slip.

"Nothing," Brennan grinned, "I was just thinking how innocent you still must be if you blush when you see a guy with no shirt on."

"I'm not that innocent!" Emma felt her cheeks redden even more. Great! Now she was feeling like the little sister again.

"You can't deny it, Em, you're clearly still uncomfortable around male bodies! You should have seen the look on your face when we busted in on that new mutant lying naked in his apartment last week. It was a picture!" To prove his point it seemed, he chose that moment to give a loud and obvious yawn, stretching backwards on the sofa and bringing one of his well muscled arms around Emma's shoulders, like a teenage boy in a movie theatre. Emma stiffened instantly on contact, causing Brennan to laugh, her reaction obviously being what he had hoped for. He didn't retract his arm, however, and Emma felt her pulse quickening as she found herself encased against Brennan's bare chest. She glared at him

"Hey, don't go getting all offended, I didn't mean it as an insult," the elemental assured her. Really, he thought it was nice that in this modern world they lived in she still had such a sense of purity about her. "It's like Shalimar said though, Em, you just need to loosen up a little, get rid of some of that tension."

"So what your saying is that I'm somehow lacking 'cause I don't go around taking my clothes off and getting physical with people I've known for 5 minutes and whose name I won't even remember in the morning?" Emma retorted, irritation quickly overtaking any other feelings she would rather not be experiencing right now.

"Was that a pointed comment?" Brennan asked, humour still lacing his voice. "I always remember the name of the girl the morning after _getting physical _with her!"

"Really!" Emma said, disbelievingly," So what was the name of that blonde woman you were with this evening?"

"Erm, it was Aimee... wait... no, Andie, it was definitely Andie, besides, this hardly counts as I didn't actually sleep with her."

Emma snorted. "That's only 'cause Adam happened to call us in early tonight! And for the record, I am not tense!" She tried to shrug his arm off her shoulders.

Brennan chuckled. "Sure you are," he said, moving the arm around her upwards so his hand rested now at her neck, "I can feel it, all this build up of pressure, making your muscles really tight right about here." As he spoke his fingers started rubbing small circles on her shoulders, making Emma shiver involuntarily.

"Stop it," Emma heard herself saying, her voice sounding forced, lacking in any real conviction. No, her body was saying, don't stop, don't you dare stop! His touch was intoxicating.

"Seriously Emma, friend to friend, this will help." she couldn't help it, regardless of the protests forming in her head, her body gave in and allowed him to turn her so she was facing the side of the couch, with her back towards him. His touch was light at first, gently rubbing from her neck, down across her shoulders and back up again. But soon it became firmer, his hands kneading deeply into her muscles. She could feel his thumbs pressing down along her spine and travelling right up the back of her neck and into her hair. Emma closed her eyes, basking in the feeling of his touch.

"So, are you starting to feel more relaxed" He must have leaned in because she could feel his breath against her ear as he spoke. The sensation caused her to draw a sharp breath. She reached up and stilled his hand, turning then to look at him.

"I bet you say that to all the girls," she quipped, trying to defuse the rising heat that the situation seemed to be creating.

He smiled. "What can I say," Brennan's face was now close to hers, his whole body was leaning towards her. She could feel the heat of his body radiating through her, causing her skin to tingle at the contact. He was looking right at her now, and she found herself staring right back, his dark eyes seemed to be drawing her into their depths. "I know what women like."

Emma felt a rush of emotions surge though her and she jumped up from the couch as if she'd been burned.

"I'm tired," she said quickly, "I'm going back to bed." And without another glance, she turned and practically ran from the room.

'What is wrong with you?' she asked herself angrily as she made her hasty retreat back to her bedroom. She had been so caught up in the pull of the moment that she had almost allowed herself to forget whom it was she was with. 'That's Brennan,' she scolded herself, 'He's your friend and is fully aware of the effect he has on women. He definitely doesn't feel the way you feel so stop getting so involved! You'll only end up feeling hurt and spoiling your friendship.' But how did she feel. As she lay there in the dark trying to make sense of her feelings she had to fight every temptation within herself not to look into Brennan's head; his emotions were private, she told herself, its none of your business. But she knew, deep down, that her sense of decency was not the primary reason she was holding herself in check; a little voice in her head was telling her that she might not like what she saw.

Brennan hadn't moved from the couch. A large part of him was now feeling guilty, realizing he had obviously scared her, of at the very least, made her extremely uncomfortable. He wondered for a moment if she had read some of the slightly inappropriate thoughts that had been going through his mind. No, he considered, she would no doubt have slapped him in disgust if she'd really seen the direction his thoughts had been taking. More likely she was simply dealing with her own issues rather than reacting to his. Even so, mixed within his inner tumult of guilt, there was that all too familiar feeling of desire.

When he had first laid eyes on her a year ago, he had thought her beautiful, desirable. He had been attracted to the soft and unassuming innocence she seemed to have about her, and those fathomless blue eyes. These thoughts had been slightly lost in the aftermath of the following events, he had fancied Shalimar for a while afterward, a part of him still did. His head, however, knew that this was purely physical. No man could not be attracted to the confident, feministic charms of the feral. He certainly wasn't going to mess up the team dynamic for one quick moment of satisfaction.

Emma was different, though. He couldn't work out the strange surge he felt when he thought about her. He had always felt very protective towards her, like an older brother, but his thoughts about her had hardly been strictly platonic. Every time he went out he found himself drawn towards any girl with blonde hair, any girl in fact that bore no resemblance to Emma. At first he had been trying to convince himself that she wasn't his type so he could forget about her, but now it was simply in an effort to get her out of his head. Brennan sighed deeply; it wasn't like him to get emotionally involved with people, though that had changed since he joined Mutant X. He felt emotionally connected to all of the team, so why was it only Emma that was causing him such turmoil.

He yawned, finally deciding he really had better get a few hours more sleep before going out tomorrow, he pushed himself up off the couch, and made his way back to his room. Sleep was a long time coming.

_Continued in chapter 4... Thank you to those people who left reviews, i really appreciate the encouragement : )_


	4. Early mission

**THE CHOICES WE MAKE**

_Continued..._

Shalimar jumped, avoiding Jesse's leg sweep and somersaulted over his head, landing easily on her feet. Jesse recovered quickly enough to miss her retaliating punch but was too slow for the neat roundhouse kick that followed and ended up lying flat on his back, half way across the dojo. He was relieved that Adam had had the good sense to line the floor with a padding that seemed to absorb impact in an uncanny way.

Groaning, Jesse started to get to his feet, "Okay, enough, you win I take it back! I'll never accuse you of not being a morning person again!"

The feral grinned triumphantly and helped her friend back to his feet. She had gotten up early this morning, (well earlier than usual considering Jesse was the only other person yet about,) and this had prompted the fateful comment from the molecular, "I didn't think ferals were up to much at this time of the morning, careful, you might hurt yourself." The resulting challenge had clearly contradicted these thoughts.

"I think you broke a rib!" Jesse complained.

"No I didn't,"

"Well something hurts!"

"I hit you exactly two inches below your ribcage Jesse! Enough to cause insult but no injury."

"Gee, thanks Shal"

"Now stop being a big baby and help me make breakfast." Despite being eager to defend the slight against her morning abilities, the feral was definitely happy to accept that she was not the best cook in the team. It was usually Emma that rose first; she liked to get up early, for the 'empathically peaceful moments before the world started shouting' she said. The others often teased her about the fact that she was often caught humming to herself in the mornings while making breakfast.

Jesse stopped massaging his stomach and followed Shalimar obediently into the kitchen area and started cooking eggs.

"Em and Brennan are sleeping late this morning," Adam commented as he entered the kitchen, attracted out of his lab by appealing smell of the eggs.

"Mmm..." Jesse didn't seem particularly interested until Shalimar piped up,

"That's good. Since they aren't here I was just thinking we should do something to celebrate."

"Celebrate what?" asked Jesse, suprised.

"Well it'll be a year ago in 4 days since they joined us; I just thought it might be nice to acknowledge that fact. Things wouldn't be the same around here without them."

"What Shal means is she wouldn't have Brennan to flirt with constantly. "Shalimar shot Jesse a look which said quite clearly 'that is not what I meant and you know it!'

"Shalimar's right though," offered Adam, "We should do something, if for no other reason than I'm sure it would be nice to let them know that they're appreciated."

"They sure have helped save our buts a good many times," Jesse said thoughtfully

"We make a good team." Shalimar agreed.

"Well good teams work best when they're all awake," Adam remarked gesturing to the two empty spaces at the table. "It's not like Brennan to be absent when there's food on the table. I sometimes think he has a mutation to sense food from a mile away and I just keep missing it in the scans."

Shalimar snickered, it was true he ate a lot but his large appetite was what gave him that great body, and she certainly would want him to give that up.

"Must be all the excitement of last night," Jesse joked, serving the now cooked eggs tomatoes next to Shalimar's contribution of buttered toast.

"Excitement?" Adam asked, biting distractedly into his toast, "I thought you all had a quiet evening, light on the action side."

"Yeah, well the only reason Brennan missed out on action was because you called us in early Jesse smirked, "He must have left that poor girl heartbroken"

"Who's heartbroken?" Jesse was interrupted from his narrative by Emma entrance.

"Morning Em" Jesse smiled at her. Noticing Brennan was absent she took the plate Jesse offered her and sat beside Shalimar, who grinned,

"We were just discussing what Brennan got up to last night."

Emma stiffened; worried for a second that Shalimar had gone on one of her nightly prowls and spotted her and Brennan on the sofa last night.

Her worries were alleviated however by Adam, who clearly having had enough discussion on the subject of conquests already, said merely, " They were just saying Brennan was disappointed that his date had to end early when I called you back last night." Emma breathed a sight of relief. "There was a reason for that you know people," Adam continued, "The mission; Devon Rykes remember, you're all supposed to go on that mission this morning. The GSA aren't going to wait around to make their move until we show up and I for one don't want to see them claim yet another guinea pig. Where the hell is Brennan?"

"Keep your remaining hair on Adam" said Brennan, yawning widely as he made his presence known, "I just need a quick caffeine boost and I'm good to go." He looked over at the rest of the team, "Sorry, guys, didn't sleep well," he answerd their unspoken question. He caught Emma's eye for a second but she quickly looked away.

"Well now that you're all wide-eyed and ready to go," Adam said sarcastically, "I'll power up the Double Helix. You leave in 10 minutes."

"I still don't like the idea of leaving Shal and Emma at those co-ordinates on their own" Brennan remarked. He chanced another glance at Emma be she was staring fixed at her plate and didn't look up.

"I told you Brennan, it's not open to debate."

The four mutants found themselves on board the double Helix shortly afterwards. Jesse pulled the ship to halt over the location the new mutant was thought to have moved to.

"Be careful girls."

"Yeah," Brennan agreed, "Watch your backs."

"I'll leave watching my back to you," Shalimar smirked at Brennan, turning and walking away seductively. Emma rolled her eyes, and with one last glance at Brennan, who still looked concerned, she followed Shalimar down the street.

Jesse closed the door and the ship rose, heading to the co-ordinated of the burned down warehouse. He landed and, setting the controls, followed Brennan out.

"Let's make this quick shall we?" Brennan said as he made his way quickly towards the blackened building.

Jesse frowned. His friend was definitely acting edgy today. He was concerned about the girls too, but he really didn't doubt Shalimar's ability to handle herself, and Emma's powers and fighting abilities had been developing well.

The door inside seemed to be boarded up, 'Probably the work of Eckharts people,' Jesse surmised. He phased out and walked through the wall, barely having time to reintegrate himself when he heard the crashing sound of splintering wood. He watched Brennan walk though the now open door, "You can just never resist using the violent approach can you?" he asked, referring to the fact that Brennan had apparently taken out his obvious impatience with their current situation by kicking down the door.

"What?" Brennan shrugged, "It practically gave way."

"Well let's look around."

The two of them wandered through the blacken remains for a few minutes, being careful of the slightly unstable internal structures.

"Find anything?" Brennan called

"No, everything too badly burned." He sighed, "Besides if there was anything the GSA have problem removed it by now."

Brennan was about to remark that he knew it was a waste of time and they should get back to the girls when there was a small crash behind them.

"Looks like we've got company," Brennan muttered, moving over to where Jesse was standing, electricity already starting to spark from his fingers. Both held their breaths listening. There was another creak, this time evidently coming from the charred remains of the door connecting the two rooms. The door began to open. Reacting quickly to the movement Brennan shot a bolt of electricity straight at the spot. There was a small thud. Jesse edged over and phased through the wall.

"Well done Brennan." he called, "You got the cat."

"What?!" Brennan pulled the door open and saw a frazzled looking cat laying dazed just behind it.

"Nice going man, you certainly saved us there," Jesse couldn't help laughing at the expression on his friends face.

"Oh this is stupid," Brennan retorted irritably, "Adam...Adam" he shouted into his comm, there's nothing here, were going to head over to the second location."

"Alright." came Adams voice, "You and Jesse head on over there."

"Have the others found anything?" Brennan asked.

"No, they checked in a few minutes ago though, I'll patch you over their current location."

"Great," Brennan was already heading back to the Double Helix.

Adam frowned as he looked at the information on the screen in front of him. Part of the reason he had been so abrupt with Brennan doubting the mission was because he was having some doubts himself. Something just didn't sit right. Adam had gone over the original information complied by Jesse and Brennan a few days ago. It seemed routine, but there was just something still niggling in the back of Adams mind. He pulled up another source; glancing over it he made his decision.

"Brennan, Jesse," he spoke into the comm.

He heard a acknowledgement from Jesse and sighed, it was no good, he had to tell them his suspicions,

"Jesse I need you and Brennan to get over to the others immediately, I have reason to think Emma and Shalimar are walking into a trap."

"What?" Adam cringed as he heard Brennan over his comm.

"I think this new mutant isn't as innocent as we first thought. The information regarding his childhood gives several instances of him being found at the scene of a fire. He was a suspected child arsonist but the authorities never found any evidence to link him to the crimes- not surprising."

"So surely we should be assuming he was just a child who couldn't get control of his new mutiny, and maybe still can't," asked Jesse reasonably

"No, there's still something about the accounts that's bothering me." Adam replied, "A new Mutant child with uncontrollable powers would be frightened, confused, but in the accounts I read this child was just standing back enjoying the show. I don't he's the innocent victim of his powers like we were assuming."

"It's okay Adam; we're already on our way."

"It is not okay!" Retorted Brennan furiously, "I said this whole plan was a bad idea from the start, if anything happens to Emma and Shalimar..." What...what would he do? He tried to shut it out of his mind, he couldn't think about it now; all that was important was getting to them. "Jesse, can't this thing go any faster?"

_Continued in chapter 5..._


	5. Fire

**THE CHOICES WE MAKE**

_Continued..._

"So" Shalimar chirped "I say we try and get an early night and hit the malls as soon as they open tomorrow, what do you say?"

Emma laughed, "How do you manage to get so excited over new clothes Shal?"

The two of them had been looking around the streets for nearly half an hour. Neither had sensed anything yet and they were beginning to relax, thinking the wild goose chase was probably based on faulty Intel and they might as well enjoy the nice morning. Shal stopped to sniff the air for a minute, but the scent was gone. She had probably just imagined it, she thought, turning back to Emma with a grin on her face.

"It's not just the clothes Em, there's shoes, accessories, and of course the most important thing..."

"Jewellery?"

"No silly, Lingerie!"

"Of course, I forgot your obsession with those scanty bits of material."

"Scanty bits of material that pull and push you into the perfect desired shape, honey! I can't believe we've known each other this long and I've never taken you lingerie shopping! You'd look so good in a wonder bra, the guys would drop their jaws."

"Shal, do you realize your comm is still activated?" An amused voice came in. Brennan was having a hard time getting the image of Emma in a wonder bra out of his head.

Emma looked slightly abashed but Shalimar merely grinned, "So did you guys find anything?"

There was a crackling sound starting to come through Shalimar's ring.

"No and listen, Adam thinks this new mutant isn't what we think... Shal?... Emma?"

"Jesse?" Shalimar shouted into her ring. "Brennan? Emma try yours."

"Brennan?" Emma called, "Brennan... Brennan can you hear me?" Nothing.

"Something must be blocking our signal!" Shalimar reasoned.

"Look!"

The feral didn't need the yell from the young psionic next to her; she could smell the presence of another person. Just then a young man with bright red hair came tearing out of the alley nearest the girls. He took one terrified look around and went sprinting into the boarded up building next to them and disappeared.

"Hey!" Shalimar called after him, "Hey, wait!"

"Shal, I don't think it's us he's running from..."

Two men dressed in black had suddenly appeared. Emma entered their mind quickly, "They're G S Agents!"

"Only two, we can take 'em," Emma could see the feral was spoiling for a fight. The men came running toward them, stunners out.

Shalimar lunged as the first man came within reach, delivering a series of punches and kicks that the Agent dodged. He caught her briefly with his weapon. The shock wasn't enough to knock her out but she reeled back for a second, her eyes glowing yellow as her purely feral instincts took over. Running up the wall she somersaulted easily and came crashing down, right on top of the agent, pinning him to the floor. With one swift kick to the back of his neck, she had rendered him unconscious.

Emma, meanwhile, had exchanged her own series of blows with the second Agent, however, he seemed less well trained than Shalimar's opponent and Emma was able to subdue him with a neatly delivered elbow to his face. The man slumped onto the floor, next to his fallen companion.

"Nicely done!" Shalimar praised and the girls walked together into the building.

"Hallo," Emma called, "Is anyone there?"

They both jumped as the red-haired boy appeared form behind a stack of shelves, he couldn't have been more than 17. "Who are you?" He seemed timid, afraid of them,

"It's all right, we're the good guys, we won't hurt you," Emma tried to reassure him.

"No, but the guys in suits will," said Shalimar, "We should go before more of them show up."

"Go where?"

"Don't worry, we can take you somewhere safe we're Mutant X."

As soon as Shalimar had uttered these words the new Mutant seemed to change. He no longer appeared frightened, on the contrary, the blonde realized, he was smiling. Shalimar didn't like it, something was definitely wrong. As if reading her mind, Emma projected into the new mutant. The anger she saw scared her and retreating quickly she yelled, "Shal it's a trap, run!"

But before either of them could move, Devon had raised his hands and white-hot flames sprang along the walls, cutting off their escape. Shalimar let out a yowl of fright, as she became surround by the fire.

"So you're the feral" Devon's eyes gleamed maliciously. Emma made towards Shalimar to try to calm her but another wall of fire sprang up, preventing her. Shalimar was now effectively cut off from Emma. She screamed in fright, as her heart pounded in panic, preventing her mind from thinking clearly.

The first thing Jesse and Brennan saw smoke rising out of a building.

"There!" Brennan shouted as Jesse manouvered the Double Helix and landed it hurriedly. Both mutants had been in a panic since they had lost contact with the two girls a few minutes ago. Adam had said there was a pulse that was causing a communications black-out in the area and there was nothing he could do. Brennan's heart was pumping with adrenalin, he almost fell out the Helix as the doors opened.

As they ran towards the building they heard a scream that made their blood run cold.

"Shalimar!" shouted Brennan. A moment later another three GS Agents had appeared, barring their entrance to the building. Incensed that his friends were trapped inside, Brennan blasted two of the Agents with an extremely high voltage electric shock. They fell to the ground twitching with pain.

Inside, Shalimar was starting to hyperventilate with fear. Looking up she saw a skylight.Bearly stopping to think, she dived upwards, crashing trough the glass and jumped free of the building. Landing on her feet on the pavement outside, she collapsed to her knees as the shock washed over her.

"Shalimar!" Brennan ran over to her as Jesse massed out in time for the punch being thrown at him from the final agent to connect with his solid body. The agent cried out in pain and Jesse knocked him out with a quick punch.

"Shalimar," Brennan put his hand on her shoulder trying to calm her down, "Shalimar where's Emma?"

But the feral was now shaking so hard she couldn't form an answer. Jesse rushed over to her as well, catching her as she collapsed.

Brennan stood up, the blood rushing to his head. "Emma must be still inside!"

Without pausing to think, the elemental rushed into the building. He saw her, backing away from Rykes. Flames were quickly overtaking the building, Brennan realised too late that even he was already trapped, but he didn't care. All that mattered was getting to Emma. But he couldn't. The fire was surrounding him.

"Emma!" he shouted desperately, coughing from the smoke.

Rykes was distracted for a moment. He looked in the direction Brennan had shouted from. Emma used his distraction to quickly enter his mind. She didn't know what else to do, she only knew that she had to dampen these flames somehow or she and Brennan were going to die, and Devon was controlling the fire so if she could only...

Emma concentrated and projected fiercely into the mutants mind, an image of torrential rain, a tsunami, a huge waterfall, storm clouds breaking... Devon didn't move for a moment, but then he clutched his hands to his head and dropped to his knees. Whatever Emma was doing it seemed to be working, Brennan thought, as he noticed the fire around him had started to die down and Rykes now seemed to have collapsed. As soon as he could he rushed over to Emma and grabbed her, breaking the connection.

"Emma, oh thank God!" He hugged her to him but she seemed numbed from her attack on Devon's mind. Brennan put his hands on Emma face and looked into her eyes. "What did you do to him?" he asked. Emma didn't answer, still too shaken. Just then Jesse ran in.

"Emma are you okay?" Emma nodded shakily. Jesse bent down and felt the side of Devon's neck.

"He's out cold." He informed them, "We better get out of here guys, you might have killed the fire but this building has had it." Jesse threw the unconscious form of Devon over his shoulder and Brennan put his arm firmly around Emma waist. She leant into him and allowed him to guide her out and up onto the Double Helix. Jesse, having made sure Rykes was secure, took up the controls.

Shalimar was lying unconscious on one of the seats, having been deposited there by Jesse a few minutes ago. As they got on board the ship Emma's knees gave way and she sunk down, Brennan carefully guiding her to the floor. There he sat, his arm wrapped around her shoulders for the duration of the journey back. Relief was flooding through him and he kept looking at her as if reassure himself she was realty there.

He glanced over at the still form of Devon Rykes. 'When that bastard wakes up, I'm going to kill him!' Brennan thought furiously. That man nearly killed his two friends, and he would pay...

_Continued in Chapter 6..._


	6. Guilt

**THE CHOICES WE MAKE**

_Continued..._

Shalimar blinked. 'Ughh, what happened?' she wondered looking around her. She was lying on the chair in the lab, she realized; Adam was looking at some results on the computer screen with Jesse looking over his shoulder and Brennan leaning on the sideboard looking disgruntled. She frowned,

"What happened? How long have I been out... is Emma okay?"

"Hey Shalimar," Adam came over to her and smiled comfortingly. Brennan and Jesse glanced up upon hearing her speak and wandered over to her side as well.

"One question at a time okay, firstly, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine Adam, tell me what happened!"

"Okay, okay, calm down, Emma's fine, everything's fine..." Adam gave her brief description of what had happened after she had blacked out. Shalimar couldn't help feeling slightly embarrassed at having allowed herself to become so useless at such a crucial moment in the situation. She looked at the ground sheepishly.

"It wasn't your fault," Jesse said firmly, guessing the direction of her thoughts.

"Jesse's right Shalimar, you couldn't help it any more than Brennan can help being rendered useless by water," there was a grunt and a "Hey!" from Brennan, but Adam ignored him, "Your feral instincts just took over, you have nothing to feel guilty about."

"Where is Emma?" Shalimar asked, still rather feeling the need to apologise personally to her friend for leaving her in the building.

"She's resting, Adam said she checked out fine and she went back to her room," Brennan said, though to Shalimar's ears, he sounded less than convinced at this proclamation. Before she could question him about it though a loud beeping came from the computer. Jesse jumped into the seat and scrolled through the information,

"Adam, Rykes's blood pressure's dropping!"

"What? He's here?" Brennan could have sworn he heard the feral emit a low growl at this prospect. "Did you put a governor on him?"

"There's no need for that," Adam responded,

"What, you're mad, Adam he tried to kill us..."

"No Shalimar,listen, it's okay, I mean, he's not capable of hurting anyone right now... look, why don't you just see for yourself."

Reluctantly, Shalimar climbed off her chair and followed Adam and Jesse into the next room. Brennan hung back,

"I'm going to check on Emma, Glad your okay Shal," he gave her a quick hug and paused for a second. Looking into his eyes she thought he was going to say something else, but he merely turned on his heel and walked out.

"See..."

Shalimar looked down at the still body of Devon Rykes. His face seemed frozen in an expression of pain, his body pale and lifeless. Shalimar didn't care, the very sight of him made her feel sick. Adam was adjusting something on the monitor while Jesse checked some results.

"What happened to him?"

"According to Brennan, Emma hit him with some sort of telempathic blast that seems to have completely knocked out his nervous system. Whatever she did has sent his brain into remission; in short- he's dying.

Shalimar stared in disbelief; Emma had done that, their gentle little Emma. But she wasn't so gentle anymore, Shalimar reminded herself, she had certainly learned how to take care of herself since joining Mutant X. But even so...

Brennan stopped outside Emma's room. He had to admit that going to check on her had just been a spur of the moment excuse; he really didn't want to look at Rykes. That bastard had nearly killed his two best friends! Adam had said he was dying, but in Brennan's opinion his death was not coming nearly fast enough. He paused for a moment trying to quell the fury he felt inside, then raised his hand and knocked lightly on her door. He waited, but no reply came. He knocked again, this time more firmly,

"Emma, it's me, are you okay?"

He heard a small movement from inside the room but otherwise there was no response. She clearly just wanted to be left alone. Her tendency to withdraw into herself after unpleasant events was not altogether different from the others; cutting themselves off so they didn't have to deal with whatever happened was something they were all very good at. Being a psionic, however, Brennan knew Emma's withdrawal had a more deep-rooted effect; she would sometimes go several days, only venturing out of her room to eat. He had had words with her about it before. The conversation had started out of concern, but it had somehow turned into a vicious argument, leaving them both feeling angry and insulted. It had got her talking though. Making up his mind Brennan knocked one final time on the door,

"Emma, I'm coming in so you better not be naked in there," he cursed his traitorous mind, where had that comment come from?

Brennan carefully pushed open the door and walked inside. She had switched out all her lights and was sitting with her knees to her chest in the centre of her bed. As he sat gently on the edge of the bed she sighed, but didn't look at him.

"What do you want Brennan?"

"Hey, you know me, I was hungry and it's your turn to do dinner so... I guess my stomach drove me to your door." His attempt to draw her out had the desired effect. She rolled her eyes but he could see the smile playing on the edge of her lips.

"Is Shal awake yet?"

"Yeah she's fine, she was just worried if you were okay."

"I'm fine, honestly Brennan, you guys don't need to worry about me, there's nothing wrong."

"I can't help it, i care about you... i mean... you mean a lot.. to all of us..." He trailed off, unable to quell the pounding in his chest.

"I know I'm not Shalimar but you can talk to me Emma, we're friends, right?"

"Of course we are, best friends," she agreed.

"Well?" he encouaged, staring at her intently, his dark eyes boring into her. She caved...

"When I connected to him, I just wanted to stop him, but as the images were passing into him, I don't know Bren, I got this horrible sensation in the back of my throat, I felt like I was drowning... I know, it's stupid." She turned away. Brennan said nothing for a long time, feeling a shift on the bed she thought he had left so was surprised when she felt his hand touch her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you, like when Caleb attacked you, I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me." Emma was taken aback by his words. Brennan hardly ever admitted openly feelings of remorse like this and she felt touched by the sentiment behind them.

"It's not your fault Brennan," she leant over and put her arms around him, realising as know one else could, that he had suffered from the events of the morning just as much as she and Shalimar. He leant into her and returned the hug. At first, it was just a relief to have it confirmed that she really was alright, but as they remained in each others arms, he couldn't help but notice how warm and inviting her body felt, enveloped in his. It was in his nature to look out for his friends, and to feel responsible for them. She supposed he was used to having the size and strength that people looked up to and respected, it had become part of his character to protect the people he cared about. It was that part of him that had drawn her to him when the GSA had first come after her. Seeing him in the bar, she had sensed it within him. Feeling now more relaxed than she had all day, she closed her eyes and rested her face in the crook of his neck. She could feel his muscles beneath his shirt...he felt warm...safe...

"Hey guys, Adam said to tell you... oh..." Jesse had just entered the room, not bothering to knock as the door had been left ajar. Upon seeing Brennan he stopped, feeling awkward, "Err, sorry guys...am I interrupting anything?"

Emma pulled away quickly, "Of course not!"

Brennan felt an irrational stab of annoyance towards Jesse, but he didn't wish to analyse the feeling too much right now, instead he said, "What did Adam want to tell us?"

"Oh..." Jesse seemed to have lost his thread, still looking curiously between Brennan and Emma, "Err, he just wanted to let you know that... well, Rykes is dead."

"What...how?" Emma sounded shocked.

"Adam said his brain just shut down or something, his body started convulsing and..." he stopped when he noticed Brennan glaring at him. Emma had gone white,

"I didn't... mean to... I didn't mean to murder him...I just meant to stop him." she stuttered.

"Hey, it's okay Emma, he would have killed us. You don't have anything to feel guilty about." Brennan put his hand on her arm but she shrugged it away.

"Err, anyway..." Jesse definitely felt uncomfortable now, like he was intruding in some private affair, "Shalimar also offered to cook dinner for you tonight, if you aren't felling up to doing it." He nodded towards Emma, and she noticed the slight grimace as he relayed Shalimar's offer.

"Its alright Jesse," Emma managed a smile, she knew the boys always dreaded Shalimar's dinners, but were usually too polite (or perhaps too afraid) to mention it to the feral. "I wouldn't want everyone going hungry after all the excitement today, besides, Brennan has offered to help me. So tell her thanks for the offer Jesse but I'm good."

"Okay," said Jesse, "See you at dinner." With one last searching glance at Emma, he left them to it. As he left, he couldn't explain the anxious feeling, gnawing at him in the pit of his stomach.

Emma turned to Brennan smiling, "You don't mind do you?"

"When you look at me with those 'Nala eyes,' how can I refuse," he laughed.

"Nala eyes?" Emma asked, amused.

"Sure, didn't you ever watch the Lion King when you were growing up?"

"You watch Disney films?"

"That's not the point. Do you remember the scene where grown up Nala and Simba have their re-union? There's all that cheesy music playing in the back ground... well he pins her to the ground and she just looks up at him with these big, sexy '_come-to-bed' _eyes that no man could say no to!"

"_Come to bed eyes_?"

"You know what I mean, the look that will make a guy do anything you want." Brennan grinned at her. Emma felt a shiver run up her spine as she tried to pull her thoughts back down to earth. 'This is ridiculous, he makes one joke about my eyes and I'm buzzing like a teenager,' she thought. She had to get out of that room before she did something she'd regret.

"So... dinner then, shall we," she motioned towards the door.

"Lead the way m'lady," and he followed her out of her room.

_Continued in Chapter 7... sorry this story has been quite slow moving so far... but thank you so much to all those who have left reviews, they make my day : )_


	7. Sparring

**THE CHOICES WE MAKE**

_Continued..._

Brennan was bored. Shalimar and Emma had both awoken early this morning, and, insisting that they both felt fine, had left to go shopping. Brennan wasn't convinced. Both seemed happy enough but he could still see a shadow of some repressed emotions in Emma's eyes. Even Shalimar seemed edgier than usual. Still, Adam had supported their plan to take the day off which had left Brennan and Jesse at Sanctuary alone. Jesse had spent the morning doing some sort of data reconfiguration for Adam, Brennan had intended to help, but after an hour of staring at a scrolling screen, he had decided he wasn't really in the mood.

Thinking that poetry might help, he had collected one of his favourite books from his room and plonked himself down on the couch to read... that had been 2 hours ago, and the page had not yet been turned.

"Hey man," Jesse interrupted the elementals' thoughts with a firm nudge on the shoulder.

"Hey," Brennan looked up. "How's the data thing going?"

"To be honest, it's even started to give me a headache! Do you want to go a couple of rounds in the dojo? I could really use the action."

"Why not," to be honest, Brennan thought, he could use some action as well. The two men spent a few minutes warming up, and then began sparring.

"So..." Brennan swung a kick at Jesse, who ducked and retaliated with a spin of his own, "What do you think the girls are doing now?"

"Probably bought enough outfits to dress half the women in New York and have moved onto shoes or... bags by now."

"I don't know," Brennan grinned, "I'm having more fun picturing the lingerie shopping that Shalimar was talking about." Smirking at the thought he dodged Jesse's left hook and jumped to avoid the following sweep.

"Shalimar used to get me to go shopping with her before you and Emma came here."

"Yeah" Brennan delivered a short series of punches, which Jesse blocked successfully.

"It was awful though. Firstly because shopping isn't really my thing, and secondly...well"

"What?"

"It was weird seeing her parade around in all these outfits, asking me to chose which top went better with which jeans, and which necklace suited her skin colour. I was out of my league! Plus she tried to get me to help her pick out underwear for a big date she was going on..." He frowned slightly at the memory and was caught off guard by Brennan's kick, which connected with his left side and threw him temporarily off balance.

The larger man backed off for a second, giving the molecular a chance to recover,

"What, you never thought of Shal in underwear before?" He laughed at the shocked look on his friends face.

"We're friends, it's never entered my head to think of her in a way that might compromise that."

"I find that hard to believe, I mean, look at her... blindness isn't a side effect of your mutation is it?"

"How come you're so interested in my relationship with Shalimar all of a sudden? I thought you guys had come to some sort of understanding to keep the flirtation to just that."

"Sort of, I don't know. It's difficult; working with someone you find attractive every day, living with them, going out with them. Sometimes I wonder if we should just stop dancing around and give it a go."

"Are you talking about Shalimar now, or Emma?"

"What's Emma got to do with anything?"

"Oh come on man, I saw you two last night, you looked pretty cosy before I barged in."

"Emma's my friend, I care about her but that's all there is to it," Brennan was starting to feel the blood rush to his head. The heightened emotions now running through the dojo had caused the "friendly sparring session" to take a more serious turn and Brennan was forced to dodge several furious punches from the Elemental as he considered the new direction their conversation was taking.

"Really? So you're saying there's nothing going on between you and Emma?" Jesse couldn't explain the irritation he was feeling towards Brennan but venting his anger into his fists was definitely helping.

"There's nothing going on between me and Emma!" Brennan growled. He wondered why he felt a slight pang of guilt saying this. Nothing was going on. They were close, but that was a bond that had grown when they became the two new comers to Mutant X. They had both felt a bit like the outsiders, and consequently, had spent a lot of time together. Adam had preferred them to go out in pairs for safety, and he and Emma had coupled up when one or the other had wanted to go out. Though they were now fully integrated with the team, that bond remained, though Brennan had to admit she had seemed to be acting a little strangely around him recently. But where had this reaction from Jesse come from,

"Are you jealous, Jess, is that it? Which one is it you want? Do you hate the fact that Shalimar finds me attractive when she's in heat? Or do you wish Emma would connect with you the way she does with me?"

"Oh I'm sure Emma and I would have no problem 'connecting', she's not as innocent as you seem to think!"

"Don't you dare talk about Emma like that!"

Wham! There was a crack as Brennan's fist connected hard with Jesses face. What followed was a furious fight, with neither caring anymore about keeping the impact to a minimum.

"You bastard!" Brennan swore as his fist made contact with jesses massed out form, causing pain to sear up his arm. Jesse merely glowered back, a satisfied gleam in his eyes. The electricity had started to spark from Brennan's fingers, flickering ominously...

"Guys! Stop this now!" Both men spun round distracted to find Adam running towards them angrily, "Do you want to tell me what the hell you two are doing?"

"Nothing Adam," Jesse stated flatly, still glaring at the elemental in front of him, "We were just training."

"It didn't look like that to me." Adam looked between the two; Brennan, realizing his fingers were still emitting a blue voltage, quickly closed his fist to extinguish the charge.

"Hey guys... we're back!" Shalimar's raised voice sang out just as the girls rounded the corner and appeared at the foot of the dojo. Realizing the tension between the two men her smile faded into a look of concern. Both Brennan and Jesse were still red in the face and panting from their conflict.

"Hey" Adam made the effort to greet them but was unable to keep the edge out of his voice. Shalimar and Emma looked between them

"What's going on?" the feral asked suspiciously.

"It's nothing" Jesse repeated, he certainly wasn't about to discuss how the fight had escalated between with the two girls.

Emma looked at Adam for an answer, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. "We'll discuss this later," he mumbled to the boys and walked out of the dojo without a glance at the others. Emma felt a little hurt at Adams briskness; he was like a father to her and was one of the few people she relied on to be honest with her.

She turned her gaze instead to Brennan who forced a smile onto his face and said in a would be encouraging voice, "Let's see what you bought then."

The distraction worked on Shalimar. Shoes, earrings and even bras were quickly being liberated from their neat bags and boxes and held up or tried on for the boys' perusal. While Jesse was feigning interest in a new pair of knee high red boots, Emma found a moment to really focus on the tall man next to her. Brennan's mind seemed to be humming with some unexpressed anger, but the young psionic fond she was unable to ascertain the reason for the rage.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked in a low voice. Brennan didn't look at her.

"It's nothing Em,"

"It didn't seem like that way to me,"

"Really, drop it, I said I don't want to discuss it," the told her shortly. Feeling a little taken aback by the tone in his voice, she considered for a second getting a read off him for spite. Shaking her head in frustration she announced that she was going to put her purchases in her room, prompting Shalimar to follow suit and start gathering her things back into their bags.

"I'll start dinner," Jesse turned away from Brennan before he had the chance to get worked up again. Before anyone had a chance to get any futher, however, Adam returned looking serious.

"Dinner will have to wait people." Everyone looked at him; noone was really in the mood for any sort of emergency that evening.

"I've just gotten word of some unusual activity involving Genomex representatives at a major hospital clinic and I need a couple of you to check it out."

"I'll go." Emma offered, the tension in the place was giving her a headache; she looked to Shalimar, who got the hint,

"I'll go with you," she offered.

"No, I need some fresh air, I'll go with her." Emma groaned inwardly. Brennan's offer of company was definitely not what she needed right now. She could feel her headache increasing.

"Fine, Brennan and Emma will go," Adam clearly wasn't in the mood to argue the issue, "Take the Double Helix and I'll send you the information en route."

Walking dejectedly out to where the ship was parked Emma realized Brennan still hadn't actually looked at her yet. She wondered vaguely at his apparent eagerness to accompany her. Sighing she watched as he pushed the button to open the doors; this was going to be a long flight.

_Continued in chapter 8... _


	8. Systems failure

**THE CHOICES WE MAKE**

_Continued..._

Emma hammered on the metal doors to the Double Helix. She knew it wouldn't aid the situation but she had to take her frustration out on something, and the Helix just happened to be there.

"Adam, there seems to be some sort of electrical failure, the damn doors won't open!"

Adams voice crackled slightly over the comm as he replied,

"We seem to be having a lot of problems with systems around here recently. I think the gradual build up of various interfaces over the last few months is taking it's toll. I'll have to do a full internal systems overhaul, it could take weeks."

"Well we don't have weeks," Emma muttered under her breath. Deep down, she was actually quite relived not to have to spend the rest of the day alone in a certain elementals company. He, however, had other ideas.

"Its alright Adam, I've got this one," Brennan winked at Emma but she just huffed irritably at his cockiness. Ignoring her lack of enthusiasm, the elemental pointed his first two fingers at the lock and blasted a short shot of electricity. The doors opened. Grinning, Brennan boarded the ship, with Emma following reluctantly.

"I'm driving," Brennan declared jumping into the main pilot seat and pulling the controls towards him.

"God, could you be any more chavinistic! There's no driving required, Adam will patch the co-ordinates and the Helix will pilot itself." Emma wasn't sure why she was acting like this towards him, but she just couldn't help it. She didn't know why she was feeling so frustrated but something of the fall out from the fight between the boys had rubbed off on her.

Brennan started the Helix with another blast from his fingers and they were off.

"Emma? Brennan?" Adam called again into the comm-link. It was no good though, there was still no reply. "Jesse, these electrical problems seem to be affecting comms, run a scan and see if you can do anything to fix the problem temporarily until I get a chance to do a full system over haul."

"On it." Jesse immediately took his place at the computer terminal, his fingers flying over the keys.

"Meanwhile, Shalimar, can you go and get Emma and Brennan. Tell them I'm going to have to make a few adjustments before they can leave. It should only take a couple of hours, then they can go."

The feral nodded and disappeared from the room. Adam leaned over Jesses shoulder, both men staring intently at the codes on the screen, trying to find the fault. They had hardly started the scan, however, when Shalimar came running back in, her face slightly concerned.

"They're gone Adam."

"That's impossible, half the systems are down, they couldn't have got the ship started, unless... oh no..." The older man clapped his hand to his head in frustration. Jesse frowned,

"What? I hate it when you do that Adam, it makes me nervous!"

"Brennan must have used his powers to jump start the Helix,"

"So?" Shalimar didn't really see what the problem was, "He does that kind of thing all the time."

"Yes, but with the systems in the kind of mess they are, his blast won't have over ridden the problem circuits, he'll have overloaded them. Whatever power Brennan shot it with will only last so long, then all the systems will completely shut down." Adam sighed. Getting angry wouldn't change what had happened, and it wouldn't fix the Sanctuary electrical problems. He turned to Jesse "Ok, Jesse, you should still be able to patch them the location of the hospital and the files as long as they're air borne. Then lets just concentrate on getting the comms back up okay."

Half an hour later, Brennan landed the Double Helix. He had picked a area just outside the main route to the town, in a deserted field where it wasn't likely to be encountered by a stray person. They would have to walk the last stretch. He felt a slight shudder as he powered the ship down, but that was quickly dismissed as Emma leaned over him to check the details of the hospital files. He glanced at her, trying to calm his breathing... why did she have to be wearing such a low-cut top today. Emma could feel the direction of his thoughts and pulled back, glaring at him. Brennan looked away, inwardly cursing Shalimar's influence on Emma's dress sense, and tried to focus his mind on something else.

"Adam," he called into his comm, "We're here, it should take us about 20 minutes to walk over to the hospital..." He frowned as no reply came from the silver band. "Adam? You there?"

"Is the comm down again?" Emma asked. That was just the sort of problem they didn't need. She wanted this to be a quick mission- in, check for unusual activity, out and home- leaving no room for uncomfortable situations to arise between the two of them. The journey over had been relatively quick, and for that Emma had been relieved. The silence between the two team-mates had been uncomfortable at best. Although removed from the tension in Sanctuary, both were realising that something else between them was causing a completely different kind of tension, and it was no less distracting. It just seemed unavoidable. They all had their fair share of disagreements, but why did her arguments with Brennan always seem to blow out of proportion. Moreover, with comms down, the sense of being alone with him hit her even more strongly.

"I guess it's just us then," Brennan grinned as he exited the ship. Reluctantly, Emma followed him.

The walk to the hospital had been almost as quiet as the flight over, the unspoken tension between the two making natural conversation difficult. Emma had tripped over a broken stone once. Brennan had reached out instantly to catch her, but had backed away the second she had regained her balance. This hot and cold attitude was annoying Emma. She wondered what Jesse had said to make Brennan so uncomfortable around her. As soon as this was over, she was going to force him to talk.

Both mutants became wary as they approached the hospital. The elemental stopped first, peering carefully around to see if anyone was showing them undue interest that should put him on his guard. They were more vulnerable, Emma realized, without the option of calling for back up if needed. She unconsciously edged closer to Brennan. Feeling her behind him he turned to look at her, "Do you sense anything?"

She shook her head. They're eyes met in agreement and he brushed her arm lightly as they headed for the front entrance. This was a mission now, the natural camaraderie easily over-rode whatever else they were feeling at the present.

They entered the hospital and tried to look casual as they scanned the people in the waiting room.

"Look..." Emma grabbed Brennan's arm and pointed to the two large men that seemed to be guarding the entrance to ward 9. Brennan looked at the map on the front desk.

"Ward 9, that's infectious diseases." He leaned casually over the desk to smile at the woman. "Hi, we're here to see our uncle, he's on ward 9"

"I'm sorry sir, there are no visitors allowed on ward 9 at the moment. There's been a small outbreak of a highly infectious African flu virus and that ward is under the control of the Genomex facility, who are here to help us contain the spread."

"I'm sure that's not all they're here for," Emma muttered. It was clear that whatever interest Genomex had in this hospital would be found in the files on ward 9. Brennan motioned towards the security guards, barring their exit...

"Okay, Em, do your thing."

Using her telempathy powers, Emma quickly cleared the way for Brennan to get past the guards and find the information they needed. Breaking into the ward files was easy and he had soon downloaded all the files onto a disk to bring back to Sanctuary.

"Hurry up Brennan, i can sense three agents coming our way." As if on cue, a beep emitted from the computer, signalling that the download was complete. Brennan took the disc and ran to where Emma was standing guard at the door. He could see three men moving in their direction down the corridor. Damn! His eyes scanned the room, searching hastily for another way out. Seeing it, he grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her quickly over towards the window, yanking it open and motioning her out.

"Down the fire escape, go, hurry." There was no time to argue so Emma did as he said, swinging herself out onto the ledge and moving as fast as she could down the ladder to the street below. He followed a moment later, landing firmly on the pavement next to her. His eyes found hers, quickly reassuring himself that she was all right, then they turned and ran down the next alley, before anyone could see where they had gone.

It was becoming increasingly dark and cold by the time the arrived back at the Double Helix, and Emma couldn't help but feel relieved to be going home. She couldn't wait to crawl into her nice warm bed and mull over the conflicting emotions coming from Brennan. She hit the button to open the doors... nothing happened. Just great!

"Now what?" Emma exclaimed through gritted teeth. This day just kept on getting better!

Brennan frowned. He punched the key with his fist... surprisingly that had no effect. Shrugging at Emma's reprimanding look, he sent a short electrical surge at the system housing. Still nothing. Now Brennan was starting to get concerned. He looked at his ring, couldn't hurt to try...

"Adam! Adam do you read me?"

A crackling sound emitted from his ring for a moment, before Adams voice was heard, coming though clearly, much to Brennan's relief.

"Brennan? Good, we've got communications back, for the time being at least. Now Brennan listen..." but the elemental cut him off,

"Look, Adam, we'll fill you in in a minute. Right now the Helix won't open and we're freezing our asses off out here!"

"That's what i was afraid of," Adam said patiently, "When you used your powers to jump stat it, you overloaded the systems and fried the circuits. I can overwrite a basic repair from this end, but you won't be able to get the ship working again until tomorrow morning at the earliest."

Emma groaned. It was dark, freezing cold and it looked like they were stranded out here. Things really couldn't get any worse.

"Is there anything we can do to help from this end, or at least get the Helix open somehow so we can shelter in it?" Brennan was asking, trying to ignore the slightly accusatory tone Adams voice had taken when he relayed the news about the damage to the systems.

"Sorry guys, but even if you could get the doors open, you'd still be freezing until i get the internal conditioning up and running."

"Looks like you guys are stuck there tonight." Jesses voice could now be heard over their comms, and Brennan definitely didn't appreciate the chuckle that had graced the end of his comment. "Better check into a motel and wait it out until the morning. I'm sure Brennan knows one close by..." The pointed remark sent a pang down the psionic's spine. She knew exactly what Jesse was getting at- the fact that Brennan often hooked up with women during their nights out, and never brought them home. Brennan must have got the point as well, if his scowl was anything to go by. He sighed resolutely.

"Okay, Adam, we'll find somewhere to stay for the night and check back here in the morning. "

She had been wrong, Emma realised as she felt the first drop of rain hit her face, things were definitely worse. She bit back the reproachful remarks she had been about to give Brennan; he probably felt guilty enough already. Forcing herself to put on a bright voice she said, "So do you know anywhere nice we can stay at close by?"

"Actually no," he said sounding slightly concerned, "The only motel around here is about a mile away and isn't the sort of place I'd ever consider taking any girl, especially not you."

Emma wanted to ask what the 'especially not you' comment meant. Was she really that unattractive to him. But the rain was already beginning to fall in earnest, and she could feel herself starting to shake from a combination of the cold and wet.

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice, does it. Come on stud, lead the way." He quirked a grin at her and shrugged off his leather coat, wrapping it around her. She was surprised at his action but accepted gratefully, allowing him to lead her by the hand, as they broke into a run, heading back towards the town.

_Continued in chapter 9 ..._

Authors' note: This chapter is dedicated to imjuzakyd, for all the gentle prodding, and for making me feel guilty 'cause she's updated all her stories this week ; ) Thanks also to Megara1 and EveryDarkBreath for their continued support, and to everyone else who has taken the time to read and review. Sorry this part has taken so long to get up, the next chapter should be up soon... and things should start sparking...


	9. Heat

**THE CHOICES WE MAKE**

_Continued..._

As they approached the motel, Emma could see why Brennan had been reluctant to bring her here. A flickering sign outside read, 'The Purple Palace Motel- rooms available- $20 an hour or $55 a night.' She didn't need to be psionic to guess the type of clientele that this place attracted. Several women, hung around the front entrance, dressed in scanty leather outfits, with thick makeup adorning their faces. A couple looked at Brennan appreciatively as they approached, "Hey honey, looking for a good time?" He ignored them and pulled Emma hurriedly into the reception.

The man behind the desk gave them a smile as greasy as his black hair as they drew near, and eyed Emma with a hungry gaze. Brennan felt the familiar stirrings of annoyance that always jolted him when men paid too much attention to his friend. He drew her closer, wrapping his arm protectively around her waist as if to brook any unhealthy ideas the receptionist might be having. The message came across clearly, "Er, can I help you sir?" the skinny man stammered, looking nervously at the tall, solid elemental, glaring down at him.

"We'd like a room for the night," Brennan stated, not removing his arm from Emma. She looked at him frowning, about to protest when he said, in a quiet voice so only she could here, "Trust me Em, I'm not leaving you alone in a place like this." Privately, Emma thought, she would rather take the risk of being alone rather that risk spending a night in such close proximity with him. But she kept quiet, not liking the twisted grin that had returned to the receptionist's face as he filled out the form and presented it for Brennan to sign. The hit she was getting off the greasy man was unpleasant to say the least; she was actually quite thankful that her friend was more than capable of thowing his weight around when the situation called for it.

Brennan didn't let her go until they were inside the motel room. He closed the door behind them and secured it as much as the basic locking features would allow. Turning back, he saw her shrugging off his leather jacket and hangining it over the back of the chair to dry. The room was small and garishishly decorated, in bright immitation leathers and silks. The king size bed took up most of the space, though two chairs and a television had been squashed into the remaining space. The adjoining bathroom was visible; with one bath, one sink, one toilet and no door, Brennan noticed uncomfortably. He was starting to regret his insistence that they share a room. The cramped area left little room between them, and they were both people who definately needed their own space. He tried to tell himself that it was for her own safety, he was merely being a responsible teammate and looking out for his friend. Somehow, though, he just couldn't fully believe that. He looked at her now, pushing her damp hair out of her eyes as she fiddled with the dial on the heater. Personaly, Brennan didn't think an increased temperature was exactly what he needed right now. However, they were seriously soaked, and they did need to dry off; she was just being practical; so... Emma. The smiled without thinking, the warmth of his gaze startling Emma, as she finished adjusting the controls and turned back to face him.

"So?" she said, shifting uncomfortable on her feet, and wishing now that she had insisted on separate rooms.

"So..." he trailed off, really having no idea what they were supposed to do now. He looked intently at her with his chocolate brown eyes and Emma felt her heart race, as she considered the situation in which they now found themselves. This was the type of place where privacy wasn't high on the list of priorities. 'It's only for one night, you can do this,' her mind ordered silently. The picture he made was making that more difficult. Having leant her his jacket, his black top was soaked and clinging- ever so appealingly- to his perfectly defined muscles. That familiar feeling of longing started to stir in Emma's stomach as she stared at him. He was now running his hand through his wet hair, a trait he often did when he was uncomfortable. For some reason, she no longer trusted her legs to support her, and went hurriedly to sit on the edge of the bed. She looked at the gaudily red carpet, trying to force her traitorous thoughts back under control and glad for once that she had the power of telempathy, not him. Her headache had just returned with full force.

"If you want to take a shower and get dried off i could go out for a while, you know," he definitely looked uncomfortable, "If you want some privacy."

Emma shook her head. "It's still pouring Bren, besides, I'm not the one who is adversely affected by water. If anything, you're the one that needs to get dry. I could..."

"You're not going out there on your own," he said flatly, in a tone of voice that brooked no argument.

Emma frowned in annoyance, "I'm not some little sister you need to protect, Brennan. I can take care of myself you know!"

"I'm not saying you're weak, don't go getting all defensive on me again. It's just not safe for anyone to go wandering around here by themselves at night."

"Oh, but it's okay for you, right... Let's just forget about the fact that you're the one that's rendered completely impotent by water, shall we!" That was a low blow and she knew it. A feeling of guilt surged as she saw him wince at her words. He had always been sensitive of his weakness and the psionic felt the resentment instantly.

"If you don't need me then fine- I'll go," he snapped angrily, snatching up his jacket and making his way to the door.

"Bren, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," she said, jumping off the bed and grabbing his arm. He stopped and turned back to her, his eyes still narrowed. She swallowed.

"I'm sorry," she repeated gently, "Please don't go..." Her voice trailed off as she gazed, pleadingly into his eyes, her hand still clutching his arm.

Brennan felt his skin tingle where she touched him, the anger was quickly ebbing away to be fast replaced with a completely different emotion. He knew it was wrong, but for some reason he couldn't help reacting to her nearness. He felt his breath catch in his throat as he observed her... her cheeks and lips were still red from the cold, contrasting starkly with her naturally pale skin... so pure and innocent.

Brennan didn't know when he had moved, but her somehow he had taken a step towards her, closing the distance between their bodies. He heard her sharp intake of breath, as his free arm moved of its own violation and reached up to caress her cheek. Breathing deeply, he moved his other hand to her waist, pulling her flush against his body. Emma gasped, her own hand going to his damp chest, moving upwards, over his firm muscles, until the tips of her fingers brushed the side of his neck. She must have touched a sensitive spot, as he elicited a low moan and tightened his grip on her waist. She felt the heat rush downwards as she pressed against him. Meanwhile, the heat of Brennan's radiating desire was turning her legs to jelly and causing her vision to blur, as she watched him through glazed eyes, bearing down on her as he leaned gradually forward... he was going to kiss her...

The sudden realization caused Emma to come crashing down to Earth with a painful jolt. This was wrong. She couldn't do this_... they_ couldn't do this. The team dynamic they had all worked so hard to create this past year would be shattered. She couldn't deny her own desires, the wash of emotions she felt for him had been building ever since their first meeting, although she tried her hardest to ignore them. But she knew he didn't feel the same. Romantic relationships weren't something Brennan did. Hadn't she heard him boasting to Jesse that being good with women and getting involved were two completely different things. She refused to let herself get carried away in a situation that was gaurenteed to end in tears... most likey hers.

She broke from his grasp and backed away, her breathing still shaky. He seemed startled for a second, as though their actions were only just registering in his mind. The look that replaced the confusion might have been hurt, Emma obseved... or regret. The thought caused painful lump to rise in her throat. She swallowed quickly,

"Er, it's not that late, maybe we should go and grab some dinner. I'm really quite hungry." It was lie. In fact, she thought that she might actually throw up if she were to attempt to eat anything right now. Regardless, she they had to get out of this room- claustrophobic didn't even begin to describe her tensile state at that moment.

"Right, ok, sure," Brennan stumbled over the words. He scolded himself mentally- this was his fault; he had frightened her and probably just ruined thier friendship for good. Collecting himself, he said, in what he hoped was a light voice, "We can call a taxi from reception. Better than walking in this weather." Emma nodded, not trusting herself enough to speak, as Brennan pulled open the door, with a little more force that was really necessary, and offered her his jacket again. He slipped it tentatively around her shoulders, pausing for a moment, before stepping back and allowing her to precede him out of the room. Dinner was certainly going to be interesting, he thought, pausing for a second to gather his resolve, before following her into the night.

_Continued in Chapter 10... and yes, my muse and my consience do seem to work together rather a lot ; ) It's darned annoying! Thank you for all the reviews to the last chapter, they worked well on my guilt- i'll try to get the next part up soon... studies be damned..._


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